Travel agent question or travel service professional type business?

[LuvOrlando]

So we have been in Ft Lauderdale and our flight back to Boston was canceled sometime overnight when we were sleeping.

We noticed at 5:30 when we opened our eyes and started calling immediately. We got rebooked automatically on a flight without seats (whaaat)
Waited for hours to get a human because we are traveling with our dog and I'm disabled so standing for hours or sleeping in an airport not an option.
Jet Blue kept hanging up so we started using every phone in the party for a callback. In the wait we found another flight tomorrow and a hotel and contacted rental car co
Finally, after hours of angst we got a person and the flight is what we wanted/needed and we are staying another night here and rental car co is extending it a day.

So my thought is, does a travel agent monitor my flight and do all the background stuff for contingency planning we just did with multiple phones and 2 laptops because if so I am one million percent in, O M G this morning has been a nightmare.

 

[EACarlson]

I think it's going to depend on what level of service you are paying for. Generally, in my experience with TAs, the answer is no because it was a day of departure issue. Most TAs at this point are just using the same online tools that you already have at your disposal, they may be better at using them, but they are the same tools. There are some that will do what you did, but is that cost worth it for all of the times there are no issues?

 

[LoveDaisy]

My TA has taken care of this for me and a group of us on a group trip.

For the group we missed our connecting flight due to a delay in the first flight leaving. When we landed in Miami we all had a text saying we had been rebooked due to missing our connecting flight. She was even able to get all 12 of us in the next flight from Miami to Cancun. She told me she was able to get us on that next flight because she rebooked us while in flight. If we had waited until we landed we would have been scrambling with most of our flight to rebook.

When it was just DH and I traveling she rebooked us before the airline told us we were canceled. I’m not sure if TAs hear first or we just got lucky.

I’ve used my TA for 25 years. I’m going to be sad when she retires!

 

[princesscinderella]

A lot of TAs don’t book flights anymore as there’s not much commission anymore with the airlines and will only do it as part of a larger package. If they didn’t book the flights they won’t be able to make changes for you.

Status on an airline really does pay off I have Companion pass status on SWA due to my credit card and if I call the number it puts me to the next available agent. I was able to rebook my son’s robotics team that got stranded in New Orleans before anyone ever picked up when the coach was using his cellphone to call too. If there is one particular airline that you tend to use more frequently based on your airport it’s definitely worth it to build status through a credit card and their frequent flyer program.

 

[MillauFr]

Do you have to call to rebook? Can't you just rebook yourself on line? Once our flight from Seattle to Tampa was cancelled due to snow in Seattle. I immediately rebooked online into Orlando as that flight was still running. Since it was a different airport the system did charge me $1000+. However if I waited to talk to a live person the Orlando flight would have been sold out. When our vacation was over I called Alaska Airlines and got all of my money refunded.

 

[Miffy]

So we have been in Ft Lauderdale and our flight back to Boston was canceled sometime overnight when we were sleeping.

We noticed at 5:30 when we opened our eyes and started calling immediately. We got rebooked automatically on a flight without seats (whaaat)
Waited for hours to get a human because we are traveling with our dog and I'm disabled so standing for hours or sleeping in an airport not an option.
Jet Blue kept hanging up so we started using every phone in the party for a callback. In the wait we found another flight tomorrow and a hotel and contacted rental car co
Finally, after hours of angst we got a person and the flight is what we wanted/needed and we are staying another night here and rental car co is extending it a day.

So my thought is, does a travel agent monitor my flight and do all the background stuff for contingency planning we just did with multiple phones and 2 laptops because if so I am one million percent in, O M G this morning has been a nightmare.

I had to change a JetBlue flight in July because my originally scheduled flight was not going to arrive at JFK in time for me to make the connection.

I didn't call JetBlue. I chatted with them via the app. The entire process took maybe 20 minutes. They booked me on a nonstop flight the following day. I wasn't charged, because the flight change was their fault.

And I got to stay an extra day at POFQ, which I had to arrange myself but that was easy too.

 

[gmi3804]

Do you have to call to rebook? Can't you just rebook yourself on line? Once our flight from Seattle to Tampa was cancelled due to snow in Seattle. I immediately rebooked online into Orlando as that flight was still running. Since it was a different airport the system did charge me $1000+. However if I waited to talk to a live person the Orlando flight would have been sold out. When our vacation was over I called Alaska Airlines and got all of my money refunded.

Yes, you can rebook online or, better, do a live chat with an agent, which will probably be quicker than waiting on hold on the phone.

 

[LuvOrlando]

I think it's going to depend on what level of service you are paying for. Generally, in my experience with TAs, the answer is no because it was a day of departure issue. Most TAs at this point are just using the same online tools that you already have at your disposal, they may be better at using them, but they are the same tools. There are some that will do what you did, but is that cost worth it for all of the times there are no issues?

Sitting here today I'm gonna go with a yes for me, what a stress provoking bucket of screamo angst I got served for breakfast for a full service add on.

I still want the best deals down the line but I'd be willing to pay a flat fee to have someone babysit my whole scenario and step in for the assist.

 

[LuvOrlando]

My TA has taken care of this for me and a group of us on a group trip.

For the group we missed our connecting flight due to a delay in the first flight leaving. When we landed in Miami we all had a text saying we had been rebooked due to missing our connecting flight. She was even able to get all 12 of us in the next flight from Miami to Cancun. She told me she was able to get us on that next flight because she rebooked us while in flight. If we had waited until we landed we would have been scrambling with most of our flight to rebook.

When it was just DH and I traveling she rebooked us before the airline told us we were canceled. I’m not sure if TAs hear first or we just got lucky.

I’ve used my TA for 25 years. I’m going to be sad when she retires!

If you could PM me the name of this person I would be very appreciative

 

[LuvOrlando]

A lot of TAs don’t book flights anymore as there’s not much commission anymore with the airlines and will only do it as part of a larger package. If they didn’t book the flights they won’t be able to make changes for you.

Status on an airline really does pay off I have Companion pass status on SWA due to my credit card and if I call the number it puts me to the next available agent. I was able to rebook my son’s robotics team that got stranded in New Orleans before anyone ever picked up when the coach was using his cellphone to call too. If there is one particular airline that you tend to use more frequently based on your airport it’s definitely worth it to build status through a credit card and their frequent flyer program.

DH always had some status with a few different ones but we both just got Jet Blue Cards and built up 100,000 points each recently but no-one seems to care about that so far. There seems to be a tile program thing taking shape but I have no idea how to leverage it yet.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Do you have to call to rebook? Can't you just rebook yourself on line? Once our flight from Seattle to Tampa was cancelled due to snow in Seattle. I immediately rebooked online into Orlando as that flight was still running. Since it was a different airport the system did charge me $1000+. However if I waited to talk to a live person the Orlando flight would have been sold out. When our vacation was over I called Alaska Airlines and got all of my money refunded.

Their everything was snarled, their website and chat were a mess. DH was finally able to get us onto a flight tomorrow plussuck up the upcharge for good seats just to be able to select seats BUT whole process kept shutting down and wouldn't accept payment & online the PAY hyperlink kept failing. Such a hot mess

 

[LuvOrlando]

I had to change a JetBlue flight in July because my originally scheduled flight was not going to arrive at JFK in time for me to make the connection.

I didn't call JetBlue. I chatted with them via the app. The entire process took maybe 20 minutes. They booked me on a nonstop flight the following day. I wasn't charged, because the flight change was their fault.

And I got to stay an extra day at POFQ, which I had to arrange myself but that was easy too.

App chat was completely offline, it had a 2 hour wait

 

[LuvOrlando]

Yes, you can rebook online or, better, do a live chat with an agent, which will probably be quicker than waiting on hold on the phone.

Chat was a 2 hour wait & was frozen in all other ways

 

[Rogue1677x]

Travel agents use the same software that airlines use (when I was a travel agent, we used SABRE, which is what AA and several other airlines use). I saw what booking agents were seeing at that moment. But in times of mass cancelation it didn't mean I could get someone on a better flight necessarily.

Many travel agents aren't paid that great for flights and often times, only during working hours. If a cancelation happens super early in the morning or late at night, they often aren't attended to until working hours.

 

[tarheelmjfan]

My TA has taken care of this for me and a group of us on a group trip.

For the group we missed our connecting flight due to a delay in the first flight leaving. When we landed in Miami we all had a text saying we had been rebooked due to missing our connecting flight. She was even able to get all 12 of us in the next flight from Miami to Cancun. She told me she was able to get us on that next flight because she rebooked us while in flight. If we had waited until we landed we would have been scrambling with most of our flight to rebook.

When it was just DH and I traveling she rebooked us before the airline told us we were canceled. I’m not sure if TAs hear first or we just got lucky.

I’ve used my TA for 25 years. I’m going to be sad when she retires!

I'd love to find a TA like that. We mostly only use them for cruises, but I haven't had one that I thought was worth giving repeat business to. I'm really regretting not booking our next cruise directly with the cruise line. The woman we're currently booked with actually tried to convince us to not change our promo, even though it saved us $140. I did all the research & texted the info to her. She clearly just didn't want to deal with making the change.

 

[Miffy]

App chat was completely offline, it had a 2 hour wait

Ack!

 

[tvguy]

I don't think that kind of service is as common as it once was with Travel Agents. We did a two week trip, cruise with a land tour package the week before the cruise on Princess. We booked everything including air fare thru Princess, and dealt with one of their inhouse travel agents. They advertise that if ANYTHING happens with your flights, they will fix it. But not sure a smaller Travel operation would do that anymore. But at any given time, Princess has about 40,000 people on their ships, and while not all booked air fare through Princess, I think enough do that Princess can justify having staff available 24/7/365 to deal with issues. Decades ago a friend worked for a large travel agency, 14 staff members. Once every two weeks she was on call for any issues their customers had. Of course in those days, no internet, so if something came up, she had to drive into the agency to deal with it.

 

[MillauFr]

I don't think that kind of service is as common as it once was with Travel Agents.

Agreed. I'm not sure how most of them make it now days. They don't make enough on flights or hotels to make it worth their while. They do better on cruises and organized tours. People just want the cheapest option and are unwilling to pay extra for the services that an excellent travel agent could provide.

 

[tvguy]

Agreed. I'm not sure how most of them make it now days. They don't make enough on flights or hotels to make it worth their while. They do better on cruises and organized tours. People just want the cheapest option and are unwilling to pay extra for the services that an excellent travel agent could provide.

I'm surprised by some of the Cruise Vloggers who are travel agents who won't book air fare for clients, even for a fee. I would think being a full service travel agent they would book everything. The last local Travel Agent I used started charging $25 per person to book air if that was all you were booking. The fee was waived if you were booking a travel package like to Disneyland or a cruise.

 

[LuvOrlando]

Travel agents use the same software that airlines use (when I was a travel agent, we used SABRE, which is what AA and several other airlines use). I saw what booking agents were seeing at that moment. But in times of mass cancelation it didn't mean I could get someone on a better flight necessarily.

Many travel agents aren't paid that great for flights and often times, only during working hours. If a cancelation happens super early in the morning or late at night, they often aren't attended to until working hours.

So what I want is a concierge service, not for bookings but for a flat fee to fix stuff in case it happens.